Ooh, I have a jar of what was unripened honey (pulled out out of a beehive before ready-- which happens sometimes) and it's fermenting itself into alcohol. Natural yeasts apparently are converting it into mead. Wonder how it tastes. 🤔 #beekeeping#mead
Checked out a beehive today that went from 4 frames on April 21st to 10 extra full frames today.. they are in growth mode right now here in my part of Southern California. Producing honey, too. #bees#beekeeping
My backyard bee swarm countdown has restarted. Removed a captured swarm from behind my shed. Last swarm took 1.5 weeks to show up due to the marine layer. The prior swarm it was 2 days from removal of the prior hive. I already lost count of how many bee swarms from the backyard this year... at least 7... #beekeeping
Had a visit with the 15,000 to 20,000 bees that showed up in my backyard yesterday. Moved them into a bigger box. They seemed friendly enough (did this without smoke, and they were fine with it). 4.5 frames worth of bees, which is big. Going to have to move them offsite here quickly since there are so many (we are essentially catching/moving/catching/moving swarms every week here from out back). #beekeeping
A bee swarm portal has opened up here,
Causing neighbors confusion, anger, and fear
How it appeared there, I just don't know
But the swarms, they continue to show
A few last week, and one today
This is their place, I must say
However, it's not my fault, I'll have to state
They were here before us, not one that we did create
As for me, well, you won't see ME weeping
We've just taken up lots of beekeeping
Approaching the annual "running out of beekeeping equipment" date. 😬
(Bees follow the rule of exponential growth and decay: you either have WAY TOO MANY BEES or NOT NEARLY ENOUGH BEES -- in spring they grow by the power of two or more, but they also tend to drop in half in winter). #beekeeping
Hmm, left an empty nuc (small box) at a property with a beehive and a swarm flew into it and moved in yesterday or today, LOL. Had bees scouting my bag, so left an Amazon box baited with a single frame, in case there are others around... #beekeeping
Hmm, they mention using pheromones and a swarm of bees as a "radical idea" to attack enemies for the military in "The Men Who Stare At Goats", LOL. (It would work, but you can't cart around beehives, really) #beekeeping#movies
Yesterday I did move a frame almost full of capped brood, honey, pollen, and bees into the 'empty' hive.
This morning there were guard bees doing their thing and really checking over any bee that showed up, there was robbing yesterday from the feeder dripping and running out the entrance but nothing serious. I reduced the entrance to make guarding easier and noticed some pollen coming in which was surprising.
This is a nice cool apiary to work in. It faces south but is in dappled shade. After the flat area there is about a 40ft drop through oak trees to the valley floor #beekeeping
Mercury News: When bees swarm in the Bay Area, who you gonna call? These heroes. Inside the daring, ultra-competitive work of the beekeepers who race to collect loose swarms.
There are few food combinations closer to the source and local than avocados mixed with honey produced from the blossoms of the exact same avocado trees... #avocadoes#honey#food#beekeeping